Strong action has been initiated against the government staff and pensioners who have not surrendered their below the poverty line (BPL) ration cards.
Minister for Civil Supplies P. Thilothaman told The Hindu on Saturday that officials of the Civil Supplies Department had started collecting area-wise details of those availing themselves of BPL benefits from ration shops. All undeserved BPL cardholders would be brought under the APL (above the poverty line) list. There would be action against the government staff who had not surrendered their BPL cards so far.
The Civil Supplies officials would collect family-wise data, including ownership of four-wheelers. The income remitted by Non-Resident Indians in banks or other agencies could be traced and such people would be brought under the APL list. Action would be taken against those NRIs who had availed themselves of the benefits of BPL ration cardholders, he said.
Excluded from BPL list
As per the data available till September 16, as many as 91,119 BPL cards had been turned into APL cards. As per estimates, Thiruvananthapuram district topped the list of BPL card surrenders. This would help give the benefits to the deserved. Complaints are abound that many deserving families were excluded from the BPL list.
The numbers of surrenders in each districts were as follows: Thiruvananthapuram — 14,651, Kollam — 9,347, Pathanamthitta — 5,467, Alappuzha — 8,864, Kottayam — 6,405, Idukki — 2,701, Ernakulam — 7,160, Thrissur — 9,104, Palakkad — 6,920, Malappuram — 6,523, Kozhikode — 5,831, Wayanad — 1,805, Kannur — 4,716 and Kasaragod — 1,625.
The backward districts of Idukki and Wayanad and Kasaragod districts recorded lower number of BPL card surrender. In these districts, the number of government employees and higher income groups is less.